The present invention relates to brick cutting machines, particularly brick cutting machines for cutting a veneer from a fired brick. Brick veneers have become popular and are used in various construction modes to provide a brick-like look without using a full brick. However, to obtain a brick veneer, a full brick must be made and fired in order to have the firing of the brick be adequate. Thus, there is a need for a brick cutting machine that will cut the veneer from the brick so that it can be used in a veneer process.
Brick cutting machines are known, however, they have a number of drawbacks. Most particularly, they are slow, so that the throughput of the machine is reduced. Also, brick cutting machines can introduce flaws or imperfections in the veneer. The imperfections can take two forms. One is a chip out of the veneer that should not be there, leaving a void. Another form of imperfection is an incomplete removal, so there is a protrusion from the veneer where it is not desired. Conventional brick cutting machines have had relatively poor performance in both throughput and yield, with throughput rates of perhaps 400 to 800 pieces per hour, but yielding only 60% acceptable product.
It is known to use a turntable with jigs to position bricks for cutting, but only to move past a single rotary blade, and the jigs of that prior technology did not hold the bricks as well, positioning the bricks with leaf springs that extended over sides of the brick and could be too tight or too loose. This machine continued to have throughput and quality problems.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an improved brick cutting machine to improve efficiency, as well as to improve the quality yield from the brick cutting operation.